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UNITED STATES JOHN ZEISER, on ST. Louis, MISSOURI, AND FRANK A. LEEMAN, or nnTAvIA,

\ NEW YORK.

FASTENING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 521,861, dated June 26, 1894.

Application filed September 11,1893. Serial No. 485,290. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN ZEISER, residing at the city of St Louis, State of Missouri, and FRANK A. LEEMAN, residing at Batavia, in the county of Genesee and State of New York, citizens of the UnitedStates, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fastening Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in fastening devices for inserted handles, tenons, 850.

Our improvements have reference to a screwthreaded spreading device or rotatable wedge; and to a peculiar adaptation of the handle helve, or other piece, to receive this (or other suitable) spreading device.

In the accompanying drawings on which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 represents a hammer head partly in section, and our fastening device in entering position; Fig.2, the rotatable wedge by itself; and Fig. 3, a tenon dove-tailed in its matching mortise by said wedge.

The letter A designates a hammer head, or

. other piece provided with a hole or recess to a This head enlarges on a gradual taper to the top like aWedge-cone, and is reduced sharply receive the entering piece, as the helve B in Fig.1. "This'hole is larger at the outer end as usual, and the helve is bifurcated or otherwise divided, so as to allow of being spread to fill the hole; These pieces constitute the female and malemembers respectively. In our invention, this spreading is effected by a rotatable wedge consisting of a screw-threaded shank 0 and a long tapering head D,having a slit or otherwise adapted to be rotated.

or rounded at the neck as shown. The helve has a slot or division E, which is widened outward at the top to receive the smaller end of the wedging head D, as shown in its entering position, Fig. '1. At the bottom of the slot is a safety hole F, which prevents the helve splitting below that point under the spreading action of the rotatable Wedge as it is screwed down in the leading hole G, provided for the shank. In helves of hard, stiff wood, the usual liability of splitting below the head is thus avoided.

Fig. 2 shows our preferred form of rotatable wedge and the dotted lines indicatesubstantially the degree of taper required in the wedging head 'portion, by which the dovetailin g effect will be produced, as shown. Fig. 3 shows its application to a tenon B seated in its dove-tail mortise in the main piece -A. In the blind mortise shown, the rotatable wedgeenters the tenon through a hole a, and spreads the slotted end from the position of the dotted lines, so as to fill the mortise as shown. The hole F may, or may not be used in this case It is thus apparent that the screwthreaded shank engages directly with the slotted helve (or tenon), and draws down into the slot the rotating wedge portion D; this opens the upper end of the slot E but does not affect the slotted piece below the end, wherein the lower portion of the screw-shank is firmly held. The inserted piece may be readily removed from the main piece Whenever desired.

Thus a simple effective spreading device is provided that may be readily removed, easily inserted, and never liable to work out. The helve is preserved from splitting down into the handle, and the screw-shank is bedded in solid wood.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a hammer or other tool, of a handle helve having a longitudinal slot forming a bifurcated end, and a longitudinal hole at the inner end of the slot forming a continuation in line therewith in the solid body of the handle, a straight. screwshank havinga wedge cone head and abruptly diminishing neck, whereby the shank portion is bedded in the body portion of the helve below the slot, unaffected by the separation of the bifurcated end by the entering head portion.

' In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN ZEISER. FRANK A. LEEMAN.

Witnesses as to the signature of John Zeiser:

JULIAN LAUGHLIN, CHAS. H. TALMAGE.

Witnesses as to the signature of Frank A.

V Leeman:

WILLIAM TYRRELL, F. G. MOULTON. 

